How to Use Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon with Your Class

Jen Cardinal—a first grade teacher from Carl Traeger Elementary in Oshkosh, Wisconsin—knows how tricky writing activities can be while teaching remotely. Fortunately, Jen has found that making her activities feel personal and relevant to her students promotes interest and participation and is a wonderful way to help overcome the remote-learning barrier.

For Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon, Jen encourages her students to reflect on the positive characteristics of Molly Lou’s grandmother and write a thank-you letter to a person in their lives who uplifts them in a similar way.

Watch Jen’s Scholastic Book Clubs–exclusive teacher review video to learn more about her thank-you card activity and to discover other activities inspired by Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon, including:

• Morning Meetings: Kick off a school day with a conversation about what makes you who you are. Then celebrate your students’ unique qualities.

• Tracking Character Traits: Have students write down adjectives used to describe Molly Lou throughout the story. Students can then turn this exercise into a vocabulary builder and keep it going all year long by writing down new words with each new book they read!

• Self-Portraits: At several points throughout the school year, students can use a mirror to draw new self-portraits. Then, at the end of the year, they can reflect with their classmates, friends, and loved ones on how much they’ve grown!

How do you plan to use Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon with your students? We’d love to hear from you! If you’re able, please share with us and other Scholastic Book Clubs teachers on Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #ScholasticBookClubs!